Addressing machine



March 28, 1939.

H. P. ELLIOTT y ADDRESSING MAQHIN Filed A'ug. 26, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1 v I l lNVENToR Karma/7 JD. f//fbL March 28, 1939. H. P. ELLIOTT ADDREssING MACHlNE Filled A ug. 26, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Herma/7 f3. l f/o/ A 'WIJL ATTORN EY March 28, 1939- l H. P. LLIOTT l n 2,152,179

ADDRESSING MACHINE Filed Aug. 26, 1957 3 sheets-sheet s' v BUHP/@m ATTO N EY Patented Mar. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES AnDREssING MACHINE Harmon P. Elliott, Watertown, `Mass., assigner to The Elliott Addressing Machine Company,

a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 26, 1937, serial No. 160,985

s claims. (o1. 271-51) This invention relates to addressing machines of the rotary type and is particularly applicable to those using card stencils. It comprises certain y further improvements on apparatus such as shown and described in my Patent No. 1,909,910, dated May 16, 1933, and certain modifications thereof shown in my Patent No. 1,986,800, dated January 8, 1935.

I'he objects of the present invention include an improved supplemental feeding attachment for use with postal cards of less than standard length, means for ensuring greater certainty of feeding action with cards of any length when being pulled by the frictional action of a revolving drum from l5 the bottom of a stack thereof held in a magazine, (which said means are not herein claimed but are shown, described and claimed in my divisional application S. N. 182,508, filed Dec. 30, 1937) and a modification in the form of the platen sector shown in said patents designed to facilitate the feeding of cards, envelopes or letter sheets by hand individually to the printing zone from one side of the machine, instead of from a magazine located at one end thereof, such as hereinbefore 25 referred to.

The best form of apparatus embodying my invention at present known to me is illustrated in the accompanying three sheets of drawings, in Which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and others shown in section on line I-I o Fig. 2 except the card feeding drum;

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of a portion of the apparatus with certain superposed parts omitted while others are broken away or shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section on a larger scale like Fig. 1 taken on line I--I of Fig. 2, parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale looking in the general direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, the card feeding drum being shownv or other horizontalY surface, and the basic construction is similar to that shown in `my prior patents hereinbefore referred to, 2 being a revoluble ink-carrying sector, 3 a cooperating revoluble platen `sector or anvil, these two being geared together as indicated at 4 in Figs. 1 and 7 so as to be revolved in opposite directions by any convenient driving mechanism such as a belt or sprocket chain indicated at 5. Sector 2 is mounted on shaft 6 journaled in xed bearing 31 shown in Fig. 7, and 3 is carried on shaft I3 journaled in rocker frame 1 pivoted at I4 and normally biased by yielding means not shown so as to press sector 3 upward toward the cooperating ,surface of sector 2.y Any convenient ink supplying and distributing mechanism is indicatedatV 8,and 9 (Fig. 1) is a magazine for a stack of stencils, one of which is indicated at Ill in Figs. 1 and 7. The bottom stencil lin such stack is fed out of the magazine between printing operations by a reciprocating hook indicated at II and into the oppositely grooved guides I2, I2, which extend through the printing zone between sectors 2 and 3.

The magazine' for postal cards or similar ar- 25 ticles which are to be printed is indicated at I6 in which part of a stack of such cards I'I is shown with the rear edge of the bottom one supported on the ange I8, while its front Aedge rests upon a revoluble drum generally indicated at I9, which is revolved inthe same vdirection as sectorV 3 by any convenient driving connection such as a belt or sprocket chain indicated at 33 in Fig. 1. Said drum is provided with the usual serrated friction strips of rubber 20, 20, extending along an arc of its periphery on either side of the medial circumferential bearing surface 2 I, the length of said strips being about equal to that of a standard postal card. The usual pressure roller 22, cooperating with the drum, is journaled in cradle 23 by means of shaft 24, said cradle being supported and pressed downwardly by spring 25 carried by the front wall of magazine I6 which also supports the gate 30, adjustable so as to permit only one card at a time to be fed under it by the corrugated rubber strips 20, 20, on drum I9. After the forward edge of such card has passed through the gripping zone between said roller 22 and the raised section 2| of the drum surface it is stripped from the latter by the lip 2l mounted on the adjacent edge of .table 26. Superposed spring pressure plate 28 carried by pin 34 mounted in cradle 23 is biased to press downwardly on the upper surface of such card while passing over table section26 so as to .act asa friction drag preventing said card from being shot too far forward by the feeding mechanism previously described. 29, 29 are side guides for card I 1 and 3I is any suitable form of ejector mechanism engaging it after it has passed through the printing zone to positively project it under the downward deflector 32 so as to ensure its dropping into any convenient receptacle (not shown) located beneath such deflector. The table 26 is cut away, as indicated at 36, to leave an open space in which such card feeding mechanism may operate. Guide strips 39, 39 overhang the card edges.

The apparatus so far described conforms generally to the construction shown in my previously mentioned Patent Nos. 1,909,910 and 1,986,800. Drum I9 rotates continuously but exerts sufficient frictional drag on the bottom card to move it out of the magazine only while strips 20, 20 are moving under it. During the rest of each cycle of operations the bottom card rests on the smooth surface of the drum surface section 2|, which Will not move it.

The first one of the features of novelty in the present inventionrcomprises a supplemental card feeding mechanism designed to cooperate with cards of less than standard length, after the same are no longer being urged forward by the friction strips 20, 20, Yto ensure Ythe front edge portion of such shorter cards having entered the gripping zone between sectors 2 and 3 before their further. progress is checkedby the friction drag 28. Such supplemental feeding mechanism is a substitute for either of those shown in my before mentioned Patent No. 1,986,800 and comprises a finger generally indicated at 49 which is pivoted at 4| on drum I9 at a proper point within the periphery thereof so that its free endmay project beyond said periphery and engage the rear edge of any post al cardafter it has passed` beyond the zone of any gripping action between 4drum I9 and roller 22. As shown, pivotV 4| is carried by housing 42 detachably fastened to the inner surface of the drum periphery by thumb screwV 43 and held in proper position thereon by Vregistry pin 44. Normally said finger is held against a stop 45 on said housing by a tension spring 46 which is said finger by having its other end engage slot 48 v therein. The housing and main portion of the finger are located in the interior of the drum periphery within the plane in which the adjacent edge thereof lies so as to clear any portions of the main frame of the machine during revolution of the drum, the free end of the finger being laterally offset along the line of the drum axis so as to project outwardly close to one edge of said periphery through the open space 36 in table'26, as best shown in Fig. 5. u

As indicated in Fig. 1 said finger mechanism isnormally biased so as to have such projecting end inclined forwardly at an angle to any drum radius passing through its pivot, thus causing it to slightly overhang the rear edge of the card and prevent the same from bending or lifting upward and so freeing itself from such engagement. Said engagement continues until and slightly after said finger strikes the: edge of the stripper 21, after which the spring 46 yields suiciently to permit the finger 'torotate on its pivot 4| in a counterclockwisedirection looking at Fig. 1 suiciently to slip under said stripper edge. By that time, however, the short postal card has been advanced to a position such that its forward edge is well within the gripping zone of sectors 2 and 3 and it is thereby fed onward through the printing zone and delivered into the control of the ejector 3|. Similarly the yielding action of spring 46 permits the finger to slip under and turn slightly about the lower edge of magazine gate 30 without causing stoppage or breakage of the apparatus. A second novel feature is the notch 35 in ring shaped ridge 2|. Since the friction of rubber strips 20, 20 on the bottom card I1 which acts to drag it out of magazine I6 and advance its forward end into the roll pass between the ring-shaped ridge 2| on the drum surface and the pressure roll 22 is in part a function of the downward pressure produced by the weight of that card and that of the stack of cards above it, such feeding action becomes less efficient when there are only a few cards left in the magazine, and sometimes Va card will stop on making con tact with the roller while the drum surface slips along under it. I have found that if the ring 2| be transversely notched as indicated at 35 in Figs. 1 and 8 this occasional difficulty is obviated. Such notch should be located in line with or slightly in the rear of, the forward ends of strips 20, 20 and be of ay depth at least aboutl equal to the thickness of a postal card.

When such notch has been'formed in the ringshapeddrum surface 2| and a card thus stalls with its forward end at the entrance to the roll pass, such notched portion of ring 2| soon slides along under the' edge of such cardend and the latter Vthen lexes downV under pressure of roller 22 into the notch, with the result/that the resistance of lSuch roller to its'forward movement is removed. Also there'then occurs a positive biting action on the card between the rear edge of such notch'and Vthe roller which further ensures resumption of the temporarily interrupted feeding action. Y 'I If the'action of the drum feedon all bottom cards in'the magazine at all times was exactly uniform, so that the exact point on ring 2| which would then underliel the forward end of each card could be accurately determined, notch 35 should be located there. But that is practically impossible, so I prefer to place it slightly in the rear of the forward ends of rubber strips 20, 20, as shown in Fig. '1, whichv ensuresits being also somewhat in the rear of the front edge of any card being fed by said strips so that the notch may then surely be brought under that edge by continued drum rotation, and function as rst above explained,-if such card has stalled at the entrance to the roll pass.

A third feature of novelty in the machine here shown as an embodiment of my present invention is the particular configuration of thefhub of the platen sector 3, as appearing in Figs. 1 and 7. While postal Vcards are usually fed toY the printing zone from a stack in magazine I6 as previously described it is sometimes desired 4to insert them individually from one side of the machine as Vindicated in Fig. '7. Also when addressing envelopes or letter sheets it is preferable, if not necessary, to thushandle them individually, with the machine vhere shown.

Since the stencil guides I2, I2 are necessarily located at a considerable distance above table 2 in order to leave a space below the stencil for free movement of the article to be printed, .the hub of the platen sector 3 as heretofore constructed of cylindrical form has projected above, the plane of such table when the sectors are in the .positions shown in all figures of the drawings-which, of course, are the ones such sectors occupy, or through which theyA are moving, at the time of such insertion of the card Vor sheet into the printing zone. The side surface of such ordinary form of hub would then project up through the opening in the table and be apt to engage the advancing edge of the sheet or card and interfere withits continued movement into proper position between the sectors, and to avoid this I now bevel the periphery of that end of the hub as shown at I so that its outer edge lies in or below the plane of the table surface, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 7. The hub surface so produced then slopes upwardly from such outer edge and merges into any full, circular cross section of the remaining portion thereof. Consequently a sheet of paper, card or envelope may then be quickly and easily slid sidewise along the table surface up into proper position bet'ween the platen sector 3 and the under surface of the stencil I0 before the sectors grip the two together and Vperform the desired printing.

The mode of operation of the machine as a whole when the various features of the present invention are included therein is believed to have been made clear in the foregoing description so as to require no further explanation.

'I'he advantages resulting from the use of the notched drum and the improved form of platen sector hub are believed to be entirely novel. Those of the particular form of supplemental card feeding attachment here shown over both those shown in my prior patent No. 1,986,800 may be brieiiy pointed out as follows: The attachment here shown is much simpler and more compact than that shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of said patent and is self-adjusting in correct position whenever placed in position, while the patented form had to be adjusted by the operator every time it was used, and frequently maladjusted. Moreover the yielding fingers 1, 1 in that patented form extended radially of the drum at the moment of initial engagement with the rear end of the card, and, if the latter presented too much resistance to their forward urge they tended to swing backward and to slide under said edge instead of functioning properly. This particular difliculty was aggravated in the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 of said patent because the wire ngers 9 there illustrated were already in backwardly inclined position on initial contact with the card and during the entire period of their operation. As contradistinguished from both said prior constructions the finger 4i! of my present invention is yieldingly held in a forwardly inclined position with reference to the card and never swings backwardly beyond a position at right angles to the plane thereof at any time during its feeding action. Consequently, there is no tendency for the card to bend or jump up away from such finger.

Various changes in the details of construction shown and described could be made without departing substantially from the principles of operation of my invention and the character of results obtained thereby.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an addressing machine comprising a combined card gripping, printing and forwardlng mechanism together with a rotating drum and cooperating superposed pressure roller located at the proper distance from said mechanism and adapted to feed the forward end of a card of a predetermined length toward, and part way into, the gripping Zone thereof, supplemental feeding means for advancing a shorter card an additional distance toward said printing mechanism sufiicientto also project its forward end into such gripping zone, which said supplemental means" comprises a device provided with means for clamping it to the inner surface of the periphery of said drum and adapted to engage the rear edge of any such card and to continue such engagement along a portion of said cards path extending beyond theA zone of cooperation between said drum and pressure roller.

2. An apparatus such as defined in claim 1 in which said attachment is held in operative position by a screw carried by said drum; whereby on loosening such screw such supplemental feeding means may be removed from the apparatus as a unit and the machine left in its original condition adapted to feed cards of standard length in the normal manner.

3. An apparatus such as defined in claim 1 in which said attachment comprises the combination of a member projecting in a general direction radial of said drum beyond the periphery thereof into the path of such card, and means for yieldingly holding said finger in proper position for engaging the rear end of any card being fed along such path, but capable of allowing its projecting portion to move rearwardly and inwardly with respect to said periphery whenever such portion comes in contact with any immovable elernent of the machinery.

4. An apparatus such asdefined in claim 1 in which said attachment comprises the combination of a finger pivoted to said drum at a point within the periphery thereof so as to have one end projecting beyond said periphery, together with a spring anchored to said drum at another point within its periphery and connected to said finger at a point thereon between said pivot and the axis of the drum.

5. An apparatus such as defined in claim 1 in which said attachment comprises the combination of a finger pivoted to said drum at a point within the periphery thereof so as to have one end projecting beyond said periphery, together with a spring anchored to said drum at another point `within its periphery and connected to said finger at a point thereon between said pivot and the axis of the drum and a stop on said drum against which said finger is normally held by said spring.

6. In a rotary printing apparatus in which cards to be printed are fed into guides by a revvoluble drum having a friction-producing surface portion extending along an arc of its periphery and a pressure roller cooperating with another portion of such drum surface in feeding such` card, the combination of a finger pivotally supported by said drum at a point within its periphery adjacent the rear end of said frictionproducing surface with one end capable of provjecting beyondsaid periphery, a stop on said drum for said finger so located that when engaged by the latter its projecting portion will engage the rear end of any card which has just passed the point at which any gripping action of said drum and pressure roller ceases, and

yielding means tending vto hold said finger against said stop.

7. An apparatus such as defined in claim 6 in which said pivot, spring and one end portion of said finger are located near one edge ofthe periphery of said drum but inside of the plane in which said edge lies, while the free end portion of said finger is offset laterally so as to project beyond said periphery edge into the path of such card and is inclined forwardly at an a path tangent to its periphery, the combination 0f a finger pvoted on such drum and having its free end projecting beyond the periphery thereof in a; forwardly inclined position so as to overhang the rear endportion of such card, together with means which yieldingly hold said finger in such position, but permit it to swing backward Whenever it strikes an immovable obstruction. HARMON P. ELLIOTT. 

